Americans United - Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groupshttp://au.org/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups
The Religious Right in America is a multi-faceted political movement consisting of dozens of organizations that collectively raise more than $1 billion annually. Religious Right groups work fervently to undermine the wall of separation between church and state and to enshrine their theology in the laws of the United States. This movement represents the greatest threat to church-state separation in America today. You can learn more about it here.
enCongress Rejected Russell: Let’s Celebrate, But There Are More Fights Aheadhttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/congress-rejected-russell-let-s-celebrate-but-there-are-more-fights-ahead
<a href="/about/people/ms-dena-sher">Dena Sher</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Today, the Senate voted to adopt a final negotiated version of the National Defense Authorization Act. The House approved the same bill last week. Notably, the bill does not include the <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/2015-federal-legislation/2016/5/3/2017-national-defense-authorization-act-ndaa">Russell Amendment</a>, a sweeping provision that would have sanctioned taxpayer-funded employment discrimination. This is a clear win for fairness, equality, and the freedom of religion and belief.</p>
<p>It is surprising that the Members of Congress negotiating the defense bill waited until the eleventh hour to strike this provision considering it was so extreme. The amendment was fully inconsistent with the longstanding principle that federal dollars must not be used to discriminate.</p>
<p>Americans United and our partners, including nearly <a href="http://www.au.org/files/2016-08-25%20CARD%20Letter%20to%20NDAA%20Conferees%20re%20Russell%20FINAL.pdf">100 national religious, education, civil rights, labor, and women’s organizations</a>, along with nearly <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/posts/2016/11/15/in-congress-the-fight-against-discrimination-is-now">350,000 people</a> from across the country, urged members of Congress to reject taxpayer-funded discrimination. And together, we made a difference.</p>
<p>We sounded the alarm that the Russell Amendment would have jeopardized critical workplace protections for anyone employed by a religiously affiliated organization that receives federal funds. Under Russell, employees and job seekers could have been disqualified from taxpayer-funded jobs because they were the “wrong” religion or they didn’t follow the same religious tenets as their employer. And workers who are of minority faiths, of no faith, women and LGBTQ would have faced the worst consequences. </p>
<p><a href="http://au.org/get-involved/updates" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="/files/RusselVictory_r7%20%281%29.png" style="width: 800px; height: 800px;" /></a></p>
<p><em>We did it! </em></p>
<p>We should pause to appreciate today’s victory. It’s important, and it shows that Congress heard our voices. But we need to reengage in this fight because we know it is far from over.</p>
<p>In the coming months and years, we are likely to face similarly alarming policy proposals that seek to sanction discrimination under the guise of religious freedom. President-elect Trump and the new Republican Congress have already signaled their support for similar policies that use religion as an excuse to discriminate.</p>
<p>Religious freedom is a fundamental American value that guarantees us the right to believe—or not—as we see fit, but it cannot be used to justify harming or discriminating against others. We’re ready to fight for religious freedom—and know you are too.</p>
<p>Join us so we can defend religious freedom together—you can sign up to receive updates on our fight <a href="https://au.org/get-involved/updates">here</a>. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/senate">Senate</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/russell-amendment">Russell Amendment</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/republican-congress">Republican Congress</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-defense-authorization-act">National Defense Authorization Act</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steve-russell">Steve Russell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-discrimination">religious discrimination</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/trump-administration">Trump Administration</a></span></div></div>Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:26:07 +0000Rokia Hassanein12533 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/congress-rejected-russell-let-s-celebrate-but-there-are-more-fights-ahead#commentsWill Trump’s Presidency Empower Creationists? http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/will-trump-s-presidency-empower-creationists
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>There has been a lot of speculation about how President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the U.S. Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, might affect the issue of private school vouchers.</p>
<p>DeVos is known primarily for her advocacy of vouchers, and Trump has backed a nationwide plan with a staggering price tag of $20 billion. Many people are rightly alarmed.</p>
<p>But there’s another education-related issue we ought to be concerned about as well: <a href="http://religionnews.com/2016/12/05/evangelicals-in-trumps-cabinet-educators-worry-science-will-be-a-casualty/">creationism</a>.</p>
<p>Trump’s vice president, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, is a creationist. DeVos’ husband, Dick, promoted teaching “intelligent design” creationism during his unsuccessful run for governor of Michigan in 2006. (Ben Carson, Trump’s choice to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is also a creationist, although he can probably do little damage there.)</p>
<p>What does Trump himself believe? It’s hard to say. Prior to the election, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/the-religious-rights-dangerous-bet-on-trump?utm_term=.wb6lnRzd8#.riBPqw8Jn">advisors told Trump</a> that if he were asked if he believed in evolution or creationism, the safest reply was, “I believe both.”</p>
<p>Truth be told, it almost doesn’t matter what Trump believes or if he has even thought about the issue at all. He has kowtowed to the Religious Right so much that I’m sure he’d be happy to toss Charles Darwin under the bus if it was politically expedient. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/GettyImages-163746345_0.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 530px;" /></p>
<p><em>Will the Trump Administration send an anti-science message? </em></p>
<p>On the positive side, the federal government doesn’t determine local education policies, and courts have almost uniformly sided against teaching creationism in public schools. Americans United and other groups have a <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/editorial/science-lesson-celebrating-10-years-of-the-dover">strong track record</a> of success here that will help as we go forward.</p>
<p>But that’s no reason to be complacent. It’s true that Trump and Pence can’t require public schools to teach creationism, but there are other things they can do to get in the way of sound science education. If new legal cases challenging creationism in public schools reach the courts, for example, they can order the U.S. Justice Department to file legal briefs in favor of teaching creationism.</p>
<p>They can also just set a bad tone and use their bully pulpits in ways that threaten proper science education. President Barack Obama was a big booster of sound science education. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxEch5nsNkk">clips online</a> of Obama enjoying himself at White House Science Fairs. Obama’s enthusiasm for science set a certain tone and sent a certain message that was pro-science and pro-education.</p>
<p>The message being sent wasn’t just that there are good jobs in science and technology (although there are), but that this stuff matters. There’s a joy in learning about the world around us and how it, and we humans, came to be. The message often projected by the Obama White House was that there is much more to learn, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.</p>
<p>The Trump White House can, if it chooses, send a very different message. Looking at the line-up Trump has selected to give him advice and work alongside him on issues related to education and science, we have every reason to fear that a big change in tone is in the offing. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/creationism-evolution">Creationism &amp; Evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/betsy-devos">Betsy DeVos</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/creationism">creationism</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/evolution">evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mike-pence">Mike Pence</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/science-education">Science Education</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/education-department">Education Department</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span></div></div>Wed, 07 Dec 2016 14:40:25 +0000Rokia Hassanein12530 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/will-trump-s-presidency-empower-creationists#commentsCarson at HUD: He Says He’ll Focus On 'Spiritual Infrastructure'http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/carson-at-hud-he-says-he-ll-focus-on-spiritual-infrastructure
<a href="/about/people/rokia-hassanein">Rokia Hassanein</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Yesterday, President-elect Donald J. Trump named Religious Right favorite <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/12/ben-carson-hud-secretary-trump-232184">Ben Carson</a> to serve as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary.</p>
<p>Carson, who’s a retired neurosurgeon, has no experience with affordable housing or fair housing laws. He does have experience, however, making controversial and bizarre remarks about any number of issues, including about religious freedom.</p>
<p>Carson joins a host of problematic cabinet nominees.</p>
<p>Trump named <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jeff-sessions-is-no-fan-of-separation-of-church-and-state">U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)</a> to be attorney general despite his lack of respect for the separation of church and state and religious minorities; pro-voucher and anti-public schools advocate <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/devos-devoted-career-to-dismantling-public-education">Betsy DeVos</a> to lead the U.S. Department of Education; <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/is-discrimination-the-price-we-ll-pay-for-trump-s-hhs-secretary">U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)</a>, who thinks “religious freedom” requires the repeal of regulations that ensure that more than 55 million women have insurance coverage for contraception without out-of-pocket costs.</p>
<p>Carson, too, has a troubling record when it comes to religious freedom. He has stated that he would not support a <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/254330-carson-doubles-down-on-no-muslims-in-the-white-house">Muslim presidential candidate</a>, he supports a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/politics/national-organization-marriage-same-sex-marriage/">constitutional amendment</a> to bar marriage for same-sex couples and he supported Indiana’s <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-30/ben-carson-says-it-s-vital-to-support-indiana-s-religious-freedom-law">divisive “religious freedom” law</a> that was aimed at using religion as an excuse to discriminate.</p>
<p>How will his views play out as the Secretary of HUD? It is unclear, but in a Nov. 23 Facebook post, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/realbencarson/posts/738670639632738">Carson wrote</a> that he wants to make cities great by “ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid.” </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/482146191.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 532px;" /></p>
<p><em>How can Carson impact HUD? </em></p>
<p>What exactly does “spiritual infrastructure” mean? It might just be Carson rhetoric, but it’s troubling nonetheless because government should have no role to play in the spiritual (or non-spiritual) choices people make.</p>
<p>In 2003, the George W. Bush Administration <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/the-faithbased-initiative">made changes</a> at HUD and many other agencies that drastically affected religious freedom. These rules allow taxpayer money to go directly to houses of worship—and even to build facilities that are used, in part, for worship services. HUD regulations also allow religiously affiliated organizations to accept federal contracts and grants and discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion with those federal dollars.</p>
<p>Carson’s promise to build “spiritual infrastructure could be aided by these Bush-era rules, which flout core church-state separation principles and thus, provide grants to churches and to put up buildings that can be used for religious services. That would be alarming.</p>
<p>As HUD Secretary, Carson would also be in charge of enforcing rules that ensure equal access to housing programs regardless of characteristics such as race, religion, sex, familial status, sexual orientation and gender identity.</p>
<p>Carson, though, has a long record of extremely controversial views that call into question his ability to do this: He’s <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/23/ben-carson-obamas-housing-rules-try-to-accomplish-/">criticized</a> a HUD rule designed to further desegregation, for example, and exhibited hostility to LGBTQ individuals and religious minorities.</p>
<p>Americans United will stand against any of Carson’s HUD policies or practices that would violate church-state separation or result in religious discrimination. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-churches-and-politics">Other Issues regarding Churches and Politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ben-carson">Ben Carson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-department-of-housing-and-urban-development">U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/george-w-bush-0">George W Bush</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tom-price">Tom Price</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jeff-sessions">Jeff Sessions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/betsy-devos">Betsy DeVos</a></span></div></div>Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:46:47 +0000Rokia Hassanein12529 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/carson-at-hud-he-says-he-ll-focus-on-spiritual-infrastructure#commentsHospitals Aren’t Churches: Why The Supreme Court Should Conclude As Much And Protect Hundreds Of Thousands Of Pensions http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/hospitals-aren-t-churches-why-the-supreme-court-should-conclude-as-much-and
<a href="/about/people/bradley-girard">Bradley Girard</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear three cases that could affect hundreds of thousands of employees nationwide. The cases—<a href="https://www.au.org/files/2015-09-11-Rollins_Amicus_Brief_FINAL.pdf"><em>Dignity Health v. Rollins</em></a> (Ninth Circuit), <a href="https://www.au.org/files/2015-05-11-Brief_of_Americans_United_et_al.pdf"><em>St. Peter’s Healthcare System v. Kaplan</em></a> (Third Circuit), and <a href="https://www.au.org/files/2015-05-13-Brief_of_Americans_United_et_al.pdf"><em>Advocate Healthcare Network v. Stapleton</em></a> (Seventh Circuit)—deal with the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, better known as ERISA. Many people’s eyes gloss over at the mere mention of ERISA, but here’s why we have been working on these cases, and why you should pay attention. </p>
<p>ERISA protects the retirement savings, and hence the financial security, of tens of millions of employees nationwide. The law requires that if an employer offers a pension plan, it must meet certain basic standards. These include, among others, (1) adequately funding the pension plan (to ensure that there is money available to pay the benefits promised to employees when those employees actually retire), (2) informing employees of key information about the plan (so that the employees will know whether the plan is adequately funded and precisely what it covers), and (3) insuring the plan (again, to ensure that the money is there when the employees need it). ERISA assures that the employer’s promises of guaranteed pension benefits will be met, allowing people to reliably plan for their retirement. And because of those guarantees, employees who receive pension plans treat those plans as a form of compensation: The benefits inform employees’ choices about where to work and how to negotiate their wages.</p>
<p>As important as ERISA is, however, Congress exempted houses of worship from its requirements. ERISA involves governmental regulation of employers’ finances and business organization, and applying it to houses of worship would raise some difficult legal questions because, as a matter of religious freedom and respect for church autonomy, the government generally does not intrude into the financial administration and management of houses of worship.</p>
<p>But here’s the problem: It’s not just houses of worship that have claimed the church exemption. Religiously affiliated hospitals across the country have decided that they should be entitled to be treated as churches under ERISA—and therefore have not been following ERISA’s requirements. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/GettyImages-510351863.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 601px;" /></p>
<p><em>Hospitals are not churches. </em></p>
<p>The upshot is that hundreds of thousands of employees of religiously affiliated hospitals—from janitors to doctors—who aren’t required to be of any particular faith and who perform overwhelmingly if not completely secular duties, aren’t getting ERISA’s protections. The hospitals promise their employees retirement benefits, which the employees depend on in planning for their futures, but then the hospitals don’t adequately fund the pension plans (meaning that there won’t be enough money to pay the employees what is due to them), and the hospitals don’t comply with legal requirements to give employees information about the plan (meaning that the employees have no notice that anything fishy is going on). Thus, it has turned out that hundreds of thousands of hard-working people across the country have traded higher wages for what they thought were better benefits. They have gone about their daily lives believing that they had ample savings for their retirement, only to find when the time comes that their employers won’t have lived up to their end of the bargain. The result: The employees have no nest egg for their retirement.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, religiously affiliated hospital groups are purchasing non-religiously affiliated hospitals at an incredible clip and then invoking ERISA’s church-plan exemption to defund existing employee pension plans at those hospitals, so that the employees who had, and relied on, a fully funded pension suddenly are left with nothing—and may not even be told that that’s happening.</p>
<p>Employees of the hospitals have been going to court to protect their legal rights to their hard-earned pensions. And in each case, Americans United has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the federal court of appeals to explain that ERISA’s drafters intended for the church exemption to protect religious liberty by preserving church autonomy and the Constitution forbids stretching the exemption to cover religiously affiliated hospitals. As we regularly explain to the courts, claims of religious liberty cannot be used to harm innocent third parties. And that’s precisely what is happening here.</p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of employees nationwide are at risk of losing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in retirement funds. And they aren’t even being told that their money is being taken away from them. That’s just wrong. When these cases are heard in the Supreme Court, we will continue working to ensure that ERISA’s narrow exemption intended to avoid having the government muck around in church finances isn’t used to strip the financial security of hospital workers across the country.</p>
<p>We hope that you will <a href="https://www.au.org/get-involved">join us</a> in this fight. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/employee-retirement-income-security-act-erisa">Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/supreme-court">Supreme Court</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/dignity-health-v-rollins">Dignity Health v. Rollins</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/st-peter-s-healthcare-system-v-kaplan">St. Peter’s Healthcare System v. Kaplan</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/advocate-healthcare-network-v-stapleton">Advocate Healthcare Network v. Stapleton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pensions">Pensions</a></span></div></div>Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:10:56 +0000Rokia Hassanein12527 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/hospitals-aren-t-churches-why-the-supreme-court-should-conclude-as-much-and#commentsAnother Strange ‘Religious Freedom’ Claim Surfaces In Wisconsinhttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/another-strange-religious-freedom-claim-surfaces-in-wisconsin
<a href="/about/people/rokia-hassanein">Rokia Hassanein</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Religious freedom is a fundamental American value, guaranteeing our right to believe—or not—as we see fit. That right to believe (and to act on those beliefs, as long as we are not harming third parties) enjoys powerful First Amendment protection.</p>
<p>That protection, however, does not mean that dissatisfied persons can file lawsuits in order to force the government into adopting policies that favor their personal religious beliefs.</p>
<p>But that is exactly what is happening in a recent lawsuit <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2016/11/10/uw-eau-claire-students-sue-over-credit-religious-service/93603584/">brought</a> by two University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students.</p>
<p>Alexandra Liebl and Madelyn Rysavy, who are Catholic, allege in the Nov. 10 lawsuit that the school violated their constitutional right to religious freedom by refusing to give credit for their service hours at a local Roman Catholic church.</p>
<p>UW-Eau Claire requires its students to complete 30 hours of service in order to graduate. <a href="https://mail.au.org/owa/redir.aspx?REF=AatGqB8SXW3RLjNuuELsDQf3bBSX5tbXFodr_wexlkMa34GNyBrUCAFodHRwczovL3d3dy51d2VjLmVkdS9TTC91cGxvYWQvUy1MLUd1aWRlYm9vay0yMDE2LnBkZg.." target="_blank">Its Service-Learning Policy states</a> that work with faith-based organizations can fulfill this requirement, but that as a public university, UW-Eau Claire won’t “award credit for time spent directly involved in promoting religious doctrine, proselytizing, or worship.”</p>
<p>Under the policy, students could get credit for working at a church-run soup kitchen but not for teaching Sunday School. This strikes a sensible balance.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Liebl volunteered at a second-grade religious-education class in a church and then sought to use those hours to satisfy her graduation requirement. That, of course, fell under the explicit “promoting religious doctrine” restriction in the policy, and the school denied her request. Rysavy, who has yet to submit her service hours, volunteered at the same church’s Sunday School classes.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Screen%20shot%202016-12-02%20at%2010.56.06%20AM.png" style="width: 800px; height: 528px;" /></p>
<p><em>This type of community service benefits everybody, but Sunday School teaching only benefits some. </em></p>
<p>The two are represented by the Religious Right group <a href="https://mail.au.org/owa/redir.aspx?REF=dkMGADT7oZxnDQ-e6o6AlHhJ_P9tqu9z6hAt7Q40FzCVBoKNyBrUCAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5hZGZsZWdhbC5vcmcv" target="_blank">Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)</a>. “This is raw favoritism of non-religious ‘beliefs, preferences, and values’ over religious ones, and that’s not constitutional,” Travis Barham, legal counsel for the ADF, <a href="https://mail.au.org/owa/redir.aspx?REF=To-Go6uqt963Ud0P9u_V535dDZSNChKtqRkWw3kRjymVBoKNyBrUCAFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmFkZm1lZGlhLm9yZy9OZXdzL1BSRGV0YWlsLz9DSUQ9OTIwMDI." target="_blank">said in a statement</a>.</p>
<p>But Barham overlooks a salient fact: If the university really favored non-religious beliefs over religious, why does it allow students to volunteer with faith-based groups for charity work?</p>
<p>The university has decided that it wants to promote community service—not the proselytizing of religion. The school has in no way restricted Liebl and Rysavy’s ability to teach religious doctrine on their own time. It simply doesn’t award credit for it. That’s not “animosity toward and discrimination against religion,” as Barham argues. That’s the university adopting a policy that Liebl, Rysavy, and ADF just happen to disagree with.</p>
<p>Whether or not the university could give credit for purely religious work if it wanted to may present a serious constitutional question. The case that ADF has brought does not. Saying that Liebl and Rysavy have a constitutional right to demand college credit for teaching Sunday School isn’t religious freedom. It’s asking a public university to support and reward them for their religious activities.</p>
<p>Real religious freedom is important—and Americans United is the first to step in to defend our fundamental right to believe, or not, as we choose. But ADF’s view is just wrong.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-religion-schools-and-universities">Other Issues regarding Religion in Schools and Universities</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/wisconsin">Wisconsin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alliance-defending-freedom">Alliance Defending Freedom</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/wisconsin-eau-claire">Wisconsin-Eau Claire</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/travis-barham">Travis Barham</a></span></div></div>Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:48:43 +0000Rokia Hassanein12525 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/another-strange-religious-freedom-claim-surfaces-in-wisconsin#commentsCutting Back The Religious Right's "Kudzu"http://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/viewpoint/cutting-back-the-religious-rights-kudzu
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><em>By The Rev. Dr. Neal Jones</em></p>
<p>I grew up in a small town in North Carolina that was very much like Mayberry.</p>
<p>Everyone in my family worked, including us kids, and one of my jobs was to keep up the yard of my grandparents – mow the grass, trim the hedges and try to keep the kudzu at bay.</p>
<p>For those who may not know what kudzu is, it’s a leafy vine that grows like crazy. I would spend all day cutting it back, convinced that I had it eliminated, only to come back later to find that it had returned in full force and then some. I would get rid of it here, only to have it reappear there. It was a never-ending struggle. I had become Sisyphus, pushing a boulder up a kudzu-covered hill.</p>
<p>Kudzu was introduced in the United States from Japan to help prevent soil erosion, but this soil savior is also a demon of death for other plants. It grows cancerously over other flora, covering them in a green canopy, depriving them of sunlight, effectively smothering them until kudzu is the sole survivor.</p>
<p>The Religious Right reminds me of kudzu. However disdainful you may be of the followers of the Religious Right – of their pettiness and meanness of spirit, their willful ignorance, their irrational fears bordering on paranoia, their preoccupation with power and control, their fixation with sexual issues and their eagerness to rewrite history to fit their ideology of Christian nationalism – however much you may despise the beliefs and tactics of the Religious Right, you have to admire their persistence. They are kudzu choking American politics, religion and culture.</p>
<p>They rose to prominence by denying women autonomy over their own bodies and destinies. Then <em>Roe v. Wade</em> trimmed back the kudzu, but it came back in state legislatures in the requirements of waiting periods, sonograms, parental consent and physician hospital privileges. It came back with the violent force of an American Taliban – screaming protestors, graphic fetus photos, physician assassinations and clinic bombings – so that what could not be accomplished by law could be achieved by intimidation.</p>
<p>Next, the Religious Right made LGBTQ people society’s new bogeymen, portraying them as bathroom predators, home wreckers, mockers of marriage and demolishers of Western civilization. Then the Supreme Court’s <em>Obergefell v. Hodges</em> ruling cut back the kudzu, but only temporarily, until some county clerks, district judges and wedding cake bakers reinterpreted their religious liberty as their license to discriminate.</p>
<p>The Religious Right made the Bible a science textbook in many public schools, teaching that the earth is only 6,000 years old, that all living things appeared over the course of six days and that Adam and Eve rode on the backs of dinosaurs, verifying “The Flintstones” as an accurate depiction of history.</p>
<p>Clarence Darrow made a monkey out of the fundamentalists in the 1925 Scopes trial, but kudzu is a persistent vegetation. Creationists banned the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution in many public schools; after all, it’s just a theory, they said. <em>Epperson v. Arkansas</em> trimmed that kudzu, but then fundamentalists made public school teachers teach “creation science” alongside evolution in order to give students a “balanced view.” How reasonable and fair are these fundamentalists! The <em>Edwards v. Aguillard</em> decision sheared that kudzu, but it came back sounding more scientific than ever as “intelligent design.” <em>Kitzmiller v. Dover</em> lopped off that kudzu, and now we’ll wait for the next nefarious vines to appear.</p>
<p>Many of the colonial refugees from Europe came to these shores to escape religious persecution in nations where church and state were united. Ironically, many of those same colo­nists perpetrated the same sins from which they had sought escape by establishing their own state-supported churches.</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, however, pruned the kudzu in Virginia, making religious liberty and church-state separation the law of the land, and the first Congress followed suit with the First Amendment. Throughout the generations, some misguided religious people have tried to siphon public money into their private institutions. Each time the kudzu is trimmed, it comes back with unrelenting creativity. Now it comes in the form of vouchers and tuition tax credits for students attending private, religious schools so that your taxes will be used to teach beliefs you don’t believe and doctrines that science doesn’t verify. This new kudzu will drain resources from our public schools at the very time they need more, not less, investment.</p>
<p>These are just a few of the varieties of the Religious Right kudzu you find growing across the American landscape today. You can’t eliminate it. Its roots are too entwined in the religious, political and cultural soil of this country. You can cut it back, however, so that it doesn’t get out of hand and smother the freedom of individual conscience and the life-nurturing institutions of society.</p>
<p>But you can’t sit back and think that your work is done. It’s too relentless for you to grow complacent. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” – that’s the way one gentleman farmer once put it. My grandfather Jones would say, “Boy, don’t turn your back on the devil!”</p>
<p>On behalf of AU’s Board of Trustees, I want to thank each of you for your dedication and diligence in keeping the kudzu at bay in your backyard.<br />
</p>
<p><em>The Rev. Dr. Neal Jones is president of the Americans United Board of Trustees and minister of Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, Pa. Jones delivered these remarks </em></p>
</div></div><h3 >Break Out The Trimmers And Fight Against Theocratic Groups That Want To Smother Our&nbsp;Rights</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viewpoint</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-12501" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">December</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2016</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/payback-time">Payback Time</a></h3>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/pickneys-promise">Pickney&#039;s Promise</a></h3>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/americans-united-in-action">Americans United In Action</a></h3>
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</div></div></div>Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:52:30 +0000Timothy Ritz12506 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/viewpoint/cutting-back-the-religious-rights-kudzu#commentsComing To Grips With The Trump Presidency: How Bad Will It Be? http://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/editorial/coming-to-grips-with-the-trump-presidency-how-bad
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Donald J. Trump, a real estate developer and reality TV star with no political experience, was elected pres­ident of the United States Nov. 8. This has shocked people all over the world, and political analysts are still grappling with how Trump beat Hillary Clinton, a seasoned politician who was leading in the polls.</p>
<p>Americans United is wrestling with a more fundamental question: What does the rise of Trump mean for the separation of church and state?</p>
<p>Nothing good, that’s for sure. During the campaign, Trump kowtowed to the Religious Right and made a number of dangerous policy proposals that, if enacted, will surely undermine religious freedom in America.</p>
<p><strong>Consider the following:</strong></p>
<p><em>Trump has vowed to overturn the federal law that bars tax-exempt groups, including houses of worship, from endorsing or opposing candidates.</em> This law, known as the “Johnson Amendment” for its sponsor, then-U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson (D-Texas), protects houses of worship from becoming cogs in partisan political machines. It’s likely that Trump knows little about it, but, prodded by Jerry Falwell Jr., he repeatedly promised to do away with it during this campaign. That’s an ill-conceived proposal that would politicize houses of worship and create a massive new loophole in the nation’s campaign finance laws.</p>
<p><em>Trump wants to create an expensive, nationwide school voucher program at a staggering price tag of $20 billion.</em> A plan like this would force Americans to fund sectarian instruction against their will and threaten adequate funding for the public school system that serves 90 percent of our nation’s children. It could be the beginning of privatization of America’s public school system – a long-sought goal of the far right.</p>
<p><em>Trump used crude forms of Islamophobia to whip up crowds and has even proposed banning Muslims from entering the country.</em> Trump’s insistence that refugees or others entering the country could somehow be interrogated on their religious beliefs and denied entry if they don’t “assimilate,” shows his abys­mal understanding of the First Amend­ment’s religious freedom protections. His willingness to casually demonize millions of law-abiding American Muslims and tar them with the brush of terrorism is appalling.</p>
<p><em>Trump has proposed putting justices like Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.</em> A list of potential high court justices that Trump released earlier this year was studded with conservatives. Since there is an opening on the court right now, a Trump appointment could have an immediate effect. And, given the advanced ages of some the justices, more vacancies are likely.</p>
<p><em>Trump supports a bill pending in Congress that would allow people to use religion to discriminate against others.</em> The misnamed “First Amendment Defense Act,” is nothing more than a license to take away the rights of LGBTQ Americans, non-believers, members of religious minorities and others under the guise of protecting “religious freedom.” Real religious freedom is a noble and important concept. It should never be used as a tool to harm others.</p>
<p><em>Trump offered support to a Washington state public school football coach who has been told to stop praying with players. </em>Trump told Coach Joe Kennedy of Bremerton High School that what happened to him was “absolutely outrageous. I think it’s outrageous. I think it’s very, very sad and outrageous.” But what happened to Kennedy was not outrageous. It was just. He was praying with football players, a clear violation of the Supreme Court’s rulings on school-sponsored prayer.</p>
<p>Equally troubling is Trump’s tendency to take advice from religious zealots. The Evangelical Advisory Board Trump formed during his campaign was salted with Religious Right figures, men and women who have no respect for the church-state wall.</p>
<p>When it came time to pick a running mate, Trump went with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Religious Right favorite. Trump and Pence both spoke at this year’s Values Voter Summit, a Religious Right gathering sponsored by the Family Research Council.</p>
<p>So yes, things are very bad and will likely get worse. But remember this: Americans United has been at this for 70 years. We’ve survived hostile administrations before. We know how to fight and win under adverse conditions.</p>
<p>The results of Nov. 8 were disappointing. But don’t despair. That’s what the Religious Right wants. Americans United has no intention of backing down from its core mission of buttressing the protective barrier that must exist between church and state.</p>
<p>You should not either.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Editorial</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/tax-exemptions-churches-and-clergy">Tax Exemptions for Churches and Clergy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/tuition-tax-credits-and-deductions">Tuition Tax Credits and Deductions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-government-aid-religious-schools">Other Government Aid to Religious Schools</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-refusals-and-rfra">Religious Refusals and RFRA</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups-involvement-in-candidate-elections">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Candidate Elections</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/reproductive-health-conscience-clauses-for-religious-objectors">Reproductive Health &amp; Conscience Clauses for Religious Objectors</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/judicial-nominations">Judicial Nominations</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-12501" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state">
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<h4>Donald Trump Won the White House With Strong Support From Religious Right Groups. What Will They Get In Return?</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/pickneys-promise">Pickney&#039;s Promise</a></h3>
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<div class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/going-on-the-offense-over-defense">Going On The Offense Over Defense</a></h3>
<h4>Americans United and Allies Work To Remove Religious Discrimination From Military Spending Bill</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/americans-united-in-action">Americans United In Action</a></h3>
<h4>Activists Converge From All Over The Nation For AU Meeting</h4> </div>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-j-trump">Donald J. Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/2016-presidential-election">2016 Presidential Election</a></span></div></div>Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:32:08 +0000Timothy Ritz12509 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/editorial/coming-to-grips-with-the-trump-presidency-how-bad#commentsPayback Timehttp://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/payback-time
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><div style="clear:both;">In the middle of October, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, and a member of Donald J. Trump’s Religious Advisory Council, penned a column for the online Christian Post in which he discussed the Republican nominee’s spiritual life.</div>
<p>“I know for a fact that the Gospel has been shared with Mr. Trump,” Graham wrote. “He has been confronted with his sin. He has heard God’s truth and has been offered grace and forgiveness.</p>
<p>“Our mission as spiritual advisors is to deliver the message,” Graham added. “Without question, that message has been faithfully delivered. Several members of our group speak into Mr. Trump’s life weekly, if not daily.”</p>
<p>Trump’s stunning come-from-behind victory on Nov. 8 has clearly pleased Religious Right figures like Graham who believe they’re on the verge of getting much of what they want politically.</p>
<p>And they just might be.</p>
<p>The Religious Right has a laundry list of issues, many of which Trump has already addressed. During the campaign, Trump vowed to get rid of a federal law that bars tax-exempt non-profits, including houses of worship, from intervening in partisan politicking. He also proposed a $20-billion voucher plan that will inevitably end up supporting many sectarian schools.</p>
<p>Trump, who once said he backed LGBTQ rights, came out against marriage equality and threw his weight behind a proposed piece of legislation called the First Amendment Defense Act that will give people the right to use their religious beliefs to deny services to those they consider immoral, such as gay people and couples who live together without being married.</p>
<p>With the Senate remaining in GOP hands, Trump will also have the power to make appointments to the federal courts and fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court. During the campaign, he put forth a list of possible judicial candidates, all of them very conservative.</p>
<p>This issue – control of the high court – motivated many in the Religious Right to stick with Trump despite his frequently crass behavior. Since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, the high court has been hobbling along with eight members. On social issues, the court is closely divided; a new appointment will shift the balance. It’s also likely, given the ages of some of the justices, that Trump will have the opportunity to appoint more jurists to the nation’s top court.</p>
<p>Trump used these issues skillfully to win over initially skeptical Religious Right leaders. His choice of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian and a favorite of the Religious Right, as a running mate also pleased social conservatives.</p>
<p>Trump needed to do something to shore up Religious Right support because early in the race he was dogged by questions about his commitment to conservative Christianity and the Religious Right’s agenda. Trump, a Presbyterian who rarely attends services, was considered by some in the Religious Right to be essentially a secular candidate posing as a devout Christian. </p>
<p>While Trump won over many of the Religious Right’s old guard, not everyone was convinced. About two weeks before Election Day, a column highly critical of Trump appeared in <em>The Washington Post</em>.</p>
<p>That wasn’t unusual; the newspaper had been highly critical of the real-estate mogul and reality TV star throughout the campaign. But the column’s authorship definitely raised eyebrows: It was penned by three students at Liberty University, a conservative evan­­­gelical school founded by the late TV preacher Jerry Falwell and now run by his son Jerry Falwell Jr.</p>
<p>The students – Dustin Wahl, Paige Cutler and Alex­ander Forbes – didn’t hold back. They criticized Falwell Jr. for endorsing Trump and accused him of seeking to stifle dissenting voices.</p>
<p>They also had harsh words for Trump, whom they slam­med for his “flagrant dishonesty, consistent misogyny and boastful unrepentance.”</p>
<p>Observed the trio, “Trump is the antithesis of our values; there is no reason to revisit his vices here. Most non-Christians recognize Trump as amoral and self-centered. If we ignore this fact and buy into his promise of strength, what will it tell the world about how seriously we Christians esteem our values?”</p>
<p>Liberty University, a bastion of fun­damentalist Christian thought based in Lynchburg, Va., might have seemed an unlikely place for an anti-Trump uprising. The school is reliably Republican-leaning, and GOP candidates with national ambitions often consider a visit there a necessity.</p>
<p>Yet the resistance at LU, led by students who formed a group called Liberty United Against Trump, is an interesting sign of what could be a deepening rift in the Religious Right sparked by Trump. His victory may smooth over some of those rifts, but if his behavior in office continues to be erratic, it may exacerbate them.</p>
<p>Members of the Religious Right’s old guard rallied behind Trump, even in the face of damning revelations of his crude behavior around women. But some conservative evangelicals, especially younger ones, were skeptical of Trump’s claims of a deep and abiding faith.</p>
<p>Trump was hardly the first choice of the Religious Right. During the GOP primaries, most of the movement’s leaders rallied around U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a figure who has long been popular with social conservatives. A smaller faction backed Ben Carson, a surgeon with no political experience who made his faith and socially conservative views the cornerstone of his campaign.</p>
<p>As the primaries played out, some groups tried to stop Trump. The Am­erican Family Association (AFA), for example, issued a number of statements and columns critical of the bombastic developer. But as Trump’s unconventional campaign flattened one GOP hopeful after another, it soon became clear that these groups were going to have to make a choice: back Trump or sit on the sidelines.</p>
<p>Most chose to support Trump. This left them in a difficult position Oct. 7 when a videotape of Trump surfaced during which the candidate said lewd things about women and bragged about sexually assaulting them.</p>
<p>The tape was taken in 2005 when Trump and Billy Bush, then host of a television program called “Access Hollywood,” were on their way to the set of a soap opera where Trump was filming a cameo.</p>
<p>On the tape, Trump is heard boasting about his attempts to seduce a married woman. “I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it,” Trump says. “I did try and [expletive deleted] her. She was married.”</p>
<p>Trump goes on: “And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”</p>
<p>At another point in the tape, Trump brags about sexually harrassing women.</p>
<p>“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful – I just start kissing them,” Trump is heard saying. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”</p>
<p>Another voice, apparently Bush’s, says, “Whatever you want.”</p>
<p>To this Trump replies, “Grab them by the [expletive deleted]. You can do anything.”</p>
<p>The release of the explosive tape dominated the news for days. Almost immediately, reporters reached out to Religious Right leaders for their take. Most of them shrugged it off.</p>
<p>Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told BuzzFeed, “My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values, it is based upon shared concerns about issues such as: justices on the Supreme Court that ignore the Constitution, America’s continued vulnerability to Islamic ter­rorists and the systematic attack on religious liberty that we’ve seen in the last 7 1/2 years.”</p>
<p>Ralph Reed of the Faith &amp; Family Coalition was even more dismissive. “People of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defund Planned Parenthood, defend religious liberty and oppose the Iran nuclear deal,” he remarked. “A 10-year-old tape of a private conversation with a talk show host ranks low on their hierarchy of concerns.”</p>
<p>Other Religious Right figures took the view that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was so terrifying that Trump’s behavior could be excused.</p>
<p>“I said at that time, with Trump sitting next to me, I would not necessarily choose this man to be my child’s Sunday School teacher,” asserted Robert Jeffress, a Texas Baptist pastor and member of Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. “But that’s not what this election is about.”</p>
<p>Others attempted to write off Trump’s comments as harmless lock­er room banter. TV preacher Pat Rob­ertson told his audience that Trump was merely trying to be “macho.” Robertson later added that he would still support Trump because the businessman knows how to get out of bankruptcy.</p>
<p>James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, told the right-wing site WorldNetDaily, “I am ... more concerned about America’s future than Donald Trump’s past. I wonder about how Bill Clinton’s language stands up in private.”</p>
<p>To critics of the Religious Right, this all sounded like hypocrisy. For years, these groups had judged the behavior of others and called for candidates who adhered to “biblical principles” and strict codes of personal behavior. Yet here they were seeming to overlook almost any transgression by Trump as they salivated over his promise to appoint a Scalia-like justice to the open seat.</p>
<p>Some invoked a “lesser of two evils” argument: Clinton is too horrible to contemplate, so going for Trump is acceptable.</p>
<p>Russell Moore, president of the Ethics &amp; Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, didn’t buy it. Moore, a consistent critic of Trump, penned an opinion column chiding his coreligionists for their support of the New York magnate.</p>
<p>“These evangelical leaders have said that, for the sake of the ‘lesser of two evils,’ one should stand with someone who not only characterizes sexual decadence and misogyny, brokers in cruelty and nativism, and displays a crazed public and private temperament – but who glories in these things,” Moore wrote. “Some of the very people who warned us about moral relativism and situational ethics now ask us to become moral relativists for the sake of an election. And when some dissent, they are labeled as liberals or accused of moral preening or sitting comfortably on the sidelines. The cynicism and nihilism is horrifying to behold. It is not new, but it is clearer to see than ever.”</p>
<p>Moore’s warning fell on lots of deaf ears.</p>
<p>Richard Land, former top lobbyist for the Southern Baptist Convention and now president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., fell back on the argument that Trump’s behavior is excusable because we’re all sinners in need of forgiveness (something the far right is never willing to extend to liberals). Land remained mostly mum about Trump’s sexual indiscretions but issued a flurry of press releases attempting to make hay with hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee that he claimed showed Clinton in a negative light.</p>
<p>As the election approached, the AFA began doing more than acting as apologists for Trump; it started pushing his talking points. One AFA bulletin asserted, against all known evidence, that voter fraud is widespread in America. At the time, Trump had been telling supporters at his rallies that the system was “rigged” against him. He went so far as to imply, during the third presidential debate, that he might not accept the results if he lost.</p>
<p>Religious Right activists, who are usually quick to judge the behavior of others, suddenly adopted moral relativism. One poll showed 72 percent of white evangelicals agreeing that an elected official who commits an immoral act in his/her personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill professional duties. As recently as 2011, that figure was only 30 percent.</p>
<p>But not everyone in the world of conservative evangelicalism fell in line behind Trump. <em>New York Times</em> religion writer Laurie Goodstein surveyed some younger evangelicals in October and found many in dismay.</p>
<p>Matthew Lee Anderson, a 34-year-old blogger and author, was especially upset over Perkins’ decision to stick with Trump.</p>
<p>“It’s inconceivable that someone could run an organization named the Family Research Council and support a man like Donald Trump for president,” Anderson said.</p>
<p>Goodstein pointed out that Anderson spoke on a panel at the FRC’s Values Voter Summit meeting in 2012. But now he said of Perkins, “I don’t have any trust in his judgment any longer. And that’s the sort of loss of trust that lots of younger evangelicals are experiencing toward people like Tony Perkins, and it will not be rebuilt quickly.”</p>
<p>A group of evangelical women also criticized Trump. In October, the Rev. Jennifer Butler of Faith in Public Life drafted a sign-on letter critical of Trump, which more than 1,000 women religious leaders have signed.</p>
<p>“The sin of misogyny has caused many of us to experience sexual assault or sexually abusive language that threatened our safety, dignity and well-being,” the letter asserts. “Christian leaders cannot condone such violent speech about women as a minor mistake or an innocent attempt to be ‘macho.’”</p>
<p>But many of Trump’s evangelical critics, as passionate as they are, lack a national stage, and they don’t have well-funded Religious Right groups backing them. Had Trump lost, they might have gained more prominence. But his victory, won in part with support from 81 percent of white evangelicals, gives the old guard bragging rights and quite possibly ready access to the leader of the free world.</p>
<p>When the results came in, some Religious Right figures attributed Trump’s win to divine intervention.</p>
<p>“When the polls are so off and the pundits get it so wrong and we can see no other explanation for a Donald Trump victory, we can rest assured that it is God who worked a miracle,” said Sam Rohrer, president of the American Pastors Network.</p>
<p>The AFA released a column by Michael Brown, who runs a ministry called FIRE in North Carolina, in which Brown wrote, “I believe Trump has been elected president by divine intervention.”</p>
<p>How much emphasis will Trump place on the Religious Right’s issues? It’s hard to say. Some political analysts believe Trump is fueled primarily by populist rage over what many Americans consider to be bad trade deals and an economy that doesn’t do much for the working class. Deep down, they speculate, Trump cares little for social issues and merely played religious conservatives with promises he either cannot or will not keep.</p>
<p>But it would be risky to assume that Trump won’t continue to placate the Religious Right. He owes the movement something, especially if he wants a second term, so some church-state battles seem inevitable.</p>
<p>Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, vowed that the organization would remain vigilant.</p>
<p>Lynn noted that Trump has a poor understanding of religious freedom. He pointed out that during the campaign, Trump often traded in crude forms of Islamophobia. At one point, he proposed banning Muslims from entering the country or subjecting them to heightened screening. The proposals, which would likely be declared unconstitutional, drew strong protests from religious and public policy groups.</p>
<p>“Donald Trump’s proposals through­­­out his campaign indicated a shocking disregard for the principles of the First Amendment,” Lynn said. “Religious freedom is far too valuable for us to allow anyone to harm it and far too fragile for us to leave it unguarded. Americans United stands at the ready to fight back against any and all of Trump’s dangerous initiatives.”</p>
<hr /><h3>In other news about election 2016:</h3>
<p><strong>- Voters in Oklahoma</strong> rejected a ballot initiative, State Question 790, that would have removed a provision from the state constitution that bars taxpayer funding of religion. Americans United opposed the attempt to remove Article 2, Section 5 from the constitution. State lawmakers pushed for the repeal after the Oklahoma Supreme Court cited the provision in ordering a Ten Commandments monument removed from the capitol. The vote was 57 percent against to 43 percent for.</p>
<p><strong>- ballot initiative in Missouri</strong> that would have weakened that state’s “no-aid-to-religion” provision also failed, 60 percent to 40 percent. Deceptively titled the “Early Childhood Health and Education Amendment,” Amendment 3 was pushed by the tobacco industry. It would have ostensibly allocated money for pre-school programs, including those run by sectarian groups.</p>
<p><strong>- Voters in Atlantic City, N.J.,</strong> voted down a non-binding referendum, Ballot Question 3, that would have expressed support for a school voucher plan and a tax credit for homeschooling in the city. Fifty-four percent of the city’s voters rejected the idea.</p>
<p><strong>- </strong><strong>North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory</strong> (R) was defeated by Democrat Roy Cooper. McCrory came under fire in March after he signed a controversial bill that overturned LGBTQ rights ordinances in North Carolina communities and required people to use the bathroom of their gender assigned at birth.</p>
<p><strong>- In Montana,</strong> incumbent governor Steve Bullock (D) fended off a challenge from Greg Gianforte, a wealthy businessman who was criticized for making donations to Religious Right groups. Creationism briefly became an issue in the race when Gianforte’s critics accused him of wanting to divert tax dollars to private religious schools that don’t teach evolution.</p>
<p><strong>- Missouri voters elected</strong> Republican Josh Hawley over Democrat Teresa Hensley for attorney general. There has been some speculation that if Hawley won, he would seek to settle a church-state case pending at the Supreme Court that concerns taxpayer funding of a religious pre-school in Columbia. The case, <em>Trinity Lutheran v. Pauley</em>, was brought by a church that is suing the state over its refusal to allow it to take part in a program where it would receive a taxpayer grant to buy recycled, shredded tires to resurface its playground. </p>
</div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >Donald Trump Won the White House With Strong Support From Religious Right Groups. What Will They Get In&nbsp;Return?</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups-involvement-in-candidate-elections">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Candidate Elections</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/lobbying-by-churches-and-religious-groups">Lobbying by Churches and Religious Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-12501" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/viewpoint/cutting-back-the-religious-rights-kudzu">Cutting Back The Religious Right&#039;s &quot;Kudzu&quot;</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/perspective/an-alternative-to-despair-stand-up-strategize">An Alternative To Despair: Stand Up, Strategize And Start Fighting Back</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/editorial/coming-to-grips-with-the-trump-presidency-how-bad">Coming To Grips With The Trump Presidency: How Bad Will It Be? </a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/people-events/baptist-group-allied-with-au-hires-new">Baptist Group Allied With AU Hires New Executive Director </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/supreme-court-accepts-va-trans-rights-case">Supreme Court Accepts Va. Trans-Rights Case </a></span> </div></li>
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<li class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/okla-legislators-fund-study-on-radical-islam">Okla. Legislators Fund Study On ‘Radical Islam’</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/judge-recommends-ill-transgender-policy-be">Judge Recommends Ill. Transgender Policy Be Retained </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/fla-couple-wins-legal-battle-over-holiday"> Fla. Couple Wins Legal Battle Over Holiday Display </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/worker-at-ariz-veterans-home-objects-to">Worker At Ariz. Veterans’ Home Objects To Proselytism </a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-7 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/officials-in-ore-town-repeal-ban-on-the-occult">Officials In Ore. Town Repeal Ban On The ‘Occult’ </a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-8 views-row-even views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/around-the-world-christian-baker-in-ireland-told">Around The World: Christian Baker In Ireland Told To Stop Discriminating </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-j-trump">Donald J. Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/2016-election">2016 election</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/2016-presidential-election">2016 Presidential Election</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council-frc">Family research Council (FRC)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/faith-and-freedom-coalition">Faith and Freedom Coalition</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span></div></div>Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:12:26 +0000Timothy Ritz12503 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/payback-time#commentsTrump Wanted Jerry Falwell Jr. To Run The U.S. Department of Education http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-wanted-jerry-falwell-jr-to-run-the-us-department-of-education
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>If there’s anyone out there who still thinks the Donald Trump presidency won’t be so bad for separation of church and state, chew on this: Trump <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FALWELL_TRUMP?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">offered the job</a> of Education Secretary to <em>Jerry Falwell Jr.</em></p>
<p>That’s right: Trump was prepared to turn the U.S. Department of Education over to a biblical literalist who would have been absolutely unqualified for the job.</p>
<p>Did I mention <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/who-jerry-falwell-jr-trump-picks-cabinet-creationist-liberty-university-president-2449792">he’s a creationist</a>? And that he <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/liberty-university-hosting-two-day-anti-gay-conference/">rails against</a> the LGBTQ community? That he once told students at Liberty University <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/armed-and-dangerous-falwell-suggests-that-lu-students-get-guns-to-fend-off">to arm themselves</a> against “those Muslims?”</p>
<p>Falwell does run Liberty University, a large conservative Christian college in Lynchburg, Va. He inherited it from his father. But this hardly means the younger Falwell is prepared to oversee the American public school system, which serves more than 50 million children.</p>
<p>Imagine a man whose university runs a <a href="http://www.liberty.edu/academics/arts-sciences/creation/">Center for Creation Studies</a> that aims to “research, promote, and communicate a robust young-Earth creationist view of Earth history” overseeing public education in America.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Bible%20creation.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 530px;" /></p>
<p><em>Under Falwell Jr., this might have been a science text for public schools. </em></p>
<p>Imagine how Falwell would have handled the rights of LGBTQ students in public schools. Imagine him promoting “Christian nation” fake history <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-jefferson-lies-david-barton%E2%80%99s-new-collection-of-whoppers">penned by his pal</a> David Barton.</p>
<p>And make no mistake, Falwell would have had the leverage to interfere in all of these issues. Public education in the United States is largely funded at the local level, usually through property taxes. But the federal government contributes some aid as well. It’s hard to pin down the precise figure because the feds spread it out over a number of programs, but one estimate by <em>The New York Times</em> put federal education spending at more than <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/putting-a-number-on-federal-education-spending/?_r=0">$107 billion annually</a>.</p>
<p>Falwell told the Associated Press that Trump offered him the top job at the Education Department when the two met in New York City after the election. Reportedly, Trump wanted Falwell to commit to at least four years, which Falwell wasn’t willing to do.</p>
<p>But Falwell continues to imply that he’ll have some role to play in the Education Department, and the education secretary Trump did name, Betsy DeVos, is known primarily for <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/devos-devoted-career-to-dismantling-public-education">promoting private school vouchers</a>. The country may have dodged Falwell, but the appointee we got isn’t much better.</p>
<p>Public education in the United States faces significant challenges. Adequate funding is essential, as is building community support for the schools.</p>
<p>A strong leader could call on Americans to rally around their public schools, since they are the only educational institutions that by law welcome children of all religions, races and socio-economic backgrounds. </p>
<p>By offering important positions to people like Falwell and DeVos, who not only don’t prioritize public education but seem to disagree with its core mission, Trump has exposed his true colors: We can expect at least four years of an Education Department that focuses on private institutions while the public schools that serve 90 percent of our children are an afterthought.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/creationism-evolution">Creationism &amp; Evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/bibles-and-religious-texts-curricula">Bibles and Religious Texts in Curricula</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jerry-falwell-jr-0">Jerry Falwell Jr.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-university">Liberty University</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/betsy-devos">Betsy DeVos</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-department-education">U.S. Department of Education</a></span></div></div>Mon, 28 Nov 2016 14:57:45 +0000Rob Boston12497 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-wanted-jerry-falwell-jr-to-run-the-us-department-of-education#commentsTrump Considering Creationist Jerry Falwell Jr. For Position In Department Of Education http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-considering-creationist-jerry-falwell-jr-for-position-in-department
<a href="/about/people/rokia-hassanein">Rokia Hassanein</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It’s been two weeks since Donald J. Trump was elected president, and his appointments and prospective picks for his administration thus far have been horrendous for church-state separation.</p>
<p>First, he appointed Steve Bannon, a racist misogynistic xenophobe <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-has-already-appointed-a-chief-strategist-who-s-horrible-for-religious">who has a long history of insulting religious minorities</a>, as his chief strategist. Then, he nominated U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be attorney general – <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jeff-sessions-is-no-fan-of-separation-of-church-and-state">a man who thinks</a> church-state separation is “a recent thing that is unhistorical and unconstitutional.”</p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/21/falwell-meets-with-trump-to-talk-education/">he’s reportedly considering</a> Jerry Falwell Jr. to be a part of the Department of Education. (This is not straight out of a horror movie or a “Saturday Night Live” skit, by the way.)</p>
<p>Yes, creationist Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, the largest conservative evangelical school in the country, is being considered for an education position within the Trump administration despite his history of prioritizing his brand of fundamentalist Christian teachings over nearly everything. </p>
<p>“I let them know one of my passions is reforming higher education and education in general,” Falwell <a href="http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_0746e853-cb07-56db-bc35-ba83b65a6f97.html">told the </a><a href="http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_0746e853-cb07-56db-bc35-ba83b65a6f97.html"><em>Richmond Times-Dispatch</em></a> after a meeting with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence took place in New York. </p>
<p>Those “passions” include teaching creationism instead of evolution, teaching that being gay is a sin, promoting the idea of taxpayer money funding religious schools via school vouchers and repealing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Amendment">Johnson Amendment</a> so that tax-exempt universities such as his, alongside houses of worship, can endorse political candidates. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/GettyImages-468613162.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 613px;" /></p>
<p><em>The book depicted here is not a science text. </em></p>
<p>“I told them I’d be willing – I have a lot of responsibilities here – but I’d be willing to serve in some capacity that sort of brings education back to some form of sanity,” Falwell continued. </p>
<p>Well, his ideas certainly bring “education back,” that’s for sure – back to the 19th century.</p>
<p>Based on Falwell’s comments, he seems confident that he will be offered some role in the Education Department, and the mere idea of him contributing his ideas about “sanity” is troublesome.</p>
<p>The Religious Right’s idea of “sane” is anything but. If Trump appoints Falwell Jr. or another Religious Right figure with similar views, there would be a huge reversal on LGBTQ students’ rights, especially given the Obama Administration’s <a href="http://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/entry/obama-administration-issues-guidance-protecting-transgender-students-nation">guidance protecting transgender students</a>.</p>
<p>And Falwell Jr. represents the most hypocritical of the Religious Right. He was one of the first Religious Right leaders to back Trump by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/26/evangelical-leader-jerry-falwell-jr-endorses-trump/">endorsing him in January </a>and setting a precedent for evangelicals to empty their “values” tank. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/liberty-university-trump/505400/">Even students in his university</a> thought he favored being a right-wing Republican over being a Christian this election season.</p>
<p>So it comes as no surprise that Trump, who bases a lot of his decisions on who’s blindly loyal to him, is likely to make Falwell Jr. a part of his administration. However, it should worry anyone who cares about the future of our public school system.</p>
<p>Falwell and his gang have a plan for public schools: If they can’t turn them into fundamentalist Christian academies, they’d like to drain their funding away and move to a voucher system of taxpayer-funded private schools, most of them religious in nature. </p>
<p>I’m sure there will be more horrible considerations and appointments to come during Trump’s transition period, especially since he sold his soul to the Religious Right while campaigning, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/donald-trump-evangelical-christians-religious-conservatives.html?_r=0">and they will expect a lot in return</a>.</p>
<p>But with this possible appointment, Trump has, at least for now, hit a new low. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/creationism-evolution">Creationism &amp; Evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jerry-falwell-jr-0">Jerry Falwell Jr.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/trump-administration">Trump Administration</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mike-pence">Mike Pence</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/department-of-education">Department of Education</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/johnson-amendment">Johnson Amendment</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-vouchers">school vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/creationism">creationism</a></span></div></div>Tue, 22 Nov 2016 16:04:39 +0000Rokia Hassanein12487 at http://au.orghttp://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-considering-creationist-jerry-falwell-jr-for-position-in-department#comments